Best Practices

There are an endless number of ways to "Go Green," only some of which include the addition of curriculum in the classroom. Some of our best examples of implementation of the GGI come from innovative teachers who capture "teaching moments", and demonstrate environmentally responsible behavior in how they manage their classrooms. We share examples of best practices in each edition of our e-newsletter (which you will receive if register your school), but below, you will read one of the founder's favorites...

Harvest Park Middle School Spanish Teacher Goes "Verde"

Harvest Park was the nation's first middle school to adopt the Go Green Initiative. The campus recycles paper, plastics, printer cartridges and cell phones. Besides their recycling and waste diversion efforts, Harvest Park is also beginning to see spontaneous acts of waste reduction.

Cindy Cousens is a Spanish teacher at Harvest Park. Her students are required to have a sheet protector that they use for reviewing vocabulary words. Cousens will ask the class to write a certain Spanish word, and they will complete the task on the sheet protector, and then hold it up to show their answer.

Before the Go Green Initiative was introduced to her campus, Cousens allowed the students to use tissues to clean their sheet protectors. But since she evaluated the environmental impact of her daily classroom operations, she has purchased towels, cut them into small pieces and has the students use the towels to clean their sheet protectors. She has a bucket in the corner of the classroom where the students return the pieces of toweling, and when the towels are well-used, Cousens takes them home to wash them.

Viva Senora Cousens for reducing the amount of waste coming out of her classroom! What a perfect example of what happens when a school goes "verde" !